Craig RothIf you didn’t have to go in to the office, would you? After many years of working from home and trumpeting the technology that allows information workers to communication and collaborate virtually, I find I am now pleased to occasionally go into our physical office. I did a bit of reflecting on why I voluntarily make the occasional trudge downtown to the office:
- Equipment: The equipment there is a little better than what I have at home – dual screens, a better speaker phone, and direct wire internet. And there is a teleconferencing room I’ve had to use a few times
- Noise: I prefer working downtown if I know it will be noisy at home, such as with construction or housecleaning (or kids!)
- Free stuff: They make it appealing with free drinks and light snacks
- Big conference room: My team makes use of the conference room for our “contextual research” consolidation sessions when the whole team spends the better part of a week locked in a conference room sorting through the results of our field research and forming conclusions from it
- Collaboration with other employees: This is lower down on my list since no one else on my team works in that office, but sometimes I meet with other folks
- Meeting with non-employees: If I am doing research interviews or interviewing job candidates the real office looks better than my kitchen table
- Sometimes I just like the change of pace and scenery
Still, to put it in context, I generally work outside an office, whether at home or on the road. Maybe once a week I go to the office. But it’s nice to know the option is there.
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Guy Creese June 15, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Put another way, working at home can make the arrival of the postman the social event of the day.
2 Craig Roth June 15, 2012 at 5:55 pm
You obviously haven’t met my mailwoman. Cowering in my room until she passes by is more like it.